The Akatsuki's Revenge
by Xnirys
Summary: The Akatsuki return after the essential destruction of all the original members. The attack has begun with faces new and old including a long thought dead comrade. retitled Formerly the New Akatsuki . r
1. Chapter 1 Returns and Departures

**Author's Note** If you are reading this I would like to thank you. This is my first fanfic so don't expect Stephen King or Samuel Taylor Coleridge writing but I hope that you will find it good at least. Once again thank you.

**Disclaimer** There is going to be some coarse language and violence in this story.

I take no credit for most of the characters and the setting. These belong to the original creator Kishimoto Masashi.

* * *

**The Akatsuki's Revenge  
**

Chapter 1: Returns and Departures

A blonde boy trudged his way down the beaten road. He was struggling to walk due to several injuries he had suffered in his fight with his best friend/rival about two days earlier. Every step threatened to open the wound he had treated using the medical jutsu that Sakura had taught him just before he had left. Still he had only used it on his life threatening wounds as well as those of the Uchiha that he now carried on his back. With every step Naruto Uzumaki could feel more blood spilling out of random stab wounds he suffered. He had almost passed out several times on the road.

"Damn it why isn't the Kyuubi's chakra sealing those wounds," he muttered to himself. He knew it must have been something that Sasuke had done during there fight but he couldn't tell or remember what it was.

As he was lost in thought, Naruto almost didn't notice that Sasuke was beginning to regain consciousness. The Uchiha began to twist and and struggle, rousing Naruto from his thoughts. Naruto put him on the ground and took a sedative pill out of his survival bag. He didn't like doing this to Sasuke but it was the only way he could get him back to Konoha without another conflict. He slipped the small purple ball into Sasuke's mouth and forced him to swallow. Within seconds he stopped moving and fell into unconsciousness.

Naruto picked him up and slung him over his shoulder and began to walk at his somewhat slow pace. He knew that they had to be close to the village or so he hoped. The sedatives were wearing off faster sand he only had three left and in his present condition he stood no chance against Sasuke if he woke up. As this very thought passed through his mind he could see Konoha's gates and outer wall rising up over the trees.

"Finally," Naruto exclaimed, "I thought I would never get back." No more than thirty minutes later Naruto passed through the village gates and promptly passed out.

xxXxxXxx

He awoke in a hospital bed completely disoriented. As he began to sit up he felt extreme jolts of pain in his extremities. He fell right back onto the uncomfortable hospital bed. As his head hit the pillow he heard Sakura's shrill voice yell, "Hokage-sensei hes awake."

_Oh crap, I'm about to get an ear full from obaachan, _Naruto thought to himself but out loud he began to start a conversation with his friend and former crush Sakura, "Hey Sakura-chan, long time no see." He coughed at saying this. _Evidently they weren't able fix my pierced lung, _he thought.

Before Sakura could say a word in response, Tsunade, the Godaime-Hokage, pushed her out of the doorway and began to berate him for sustaining such injuries and for not taking backup. He was used to this berating and even gave them numbers. _Lecture number 242 again, jeez you'd think she'd have figured out that I don't pay attention to her during these rants anymore. _He thought and when he finally figured that she was done He blurted out "It's good to see you again too obaachan."

It was almost three days before he was well enough to get out of his bed. During that time he inquired about Sasuke at every opportunity that he got but he never did get a straight answer except for the clichéd answers of "he's fine," or "you don't need to worry about it." but now that he could walk they couldn't ignore his questions or else he would just follow them. He finally got a straight answer from one of the random medic-nin roaming the halls. "The Uchiha guy, he was transferred out of here to a prison cell two days ago as secretly as possible. Last I heard the Godaime- Hokage was taking care of him personally."

"Thanks," Naruto yelled already almost out of earshot of the medic-nin. He had to get to the prison to check up on Sasuke before anyone else (especially Morino) got wind of him being back in the village.

xxXxxXxx

In the prison tower Naruto frantically searched for Tsunade, knowing that if he could find her he would find Sasuke. He climbed up the stairs as fast he could until about three steps from the next door he ran headlong into Tsunade's fist. "What the hell are you doing out of the hospital, Naruto." she yelled.

"I was looking for Sasuke and I heard he was here with you." he yelled exasperatedly.

"Well you were right he is here and he still hasn't woken up," she said with a look of sympathy on her face, "so You should probably just go back to the village and enjoy today."

With a quizzical look on his face he asked her the obvious question, "Why?"

"You really are an idiot aren't you" she said mockingly, "its your birthday you moron." Naruto just stood there staring at her, _How could have I forgotten my own birthday, but I can't just leave Sasuke here alone. _"Don't worry I'll stay with the Uchiha and make sure he doesn't leave."

Naruto felt relieved at the of the Hokage staying with Sasuke but still he was hesitant about leaving as he made his way down the spiral stair of the prison tower. Once he was at the exit he did decide to leave but he would be back first thing in the morning.

xxXxxXxx

Naruto made it back to his small apartment at about midday. He changed out of his hospital robes and put on his trademark orange and black outfit. He left his apartment after a cup of ramen was safely in his stomach. Of course he was going to pay a visit to Ichiraku Ramen within the hour so he made sure his gama-chan was full. He paid a visit to his friends (at least the ones who weren't out on missions) before he left to go to his favorite ramen restaurant. It took closer to 3 hours to catch up with his friends so by the time he did reach Ichiraku it was closer to the evening than he would've hoped. He sat down hoping that Teuchi-san hadn't forgotten how to make his favorite flavor. But as he sat down he didn't smell anything cooking or anyone even working. _Damn, must be their day off, _Naruto thought, _but maybe if I stay here they'll show up and cook up some ramen for their favorite customer. _Naruto waited close to 4 hours but no one had shown up and he had fallen asleep. When Naruto woke up it was dark out and he thought that he had best get home.

On the way back to his tiny abode Naruto noticed that some of the villagers were giving him more hateful glances then they did even when he was a kid. He decided it might be best if rushed home. As he arrived he noticed the door was ajar. As he pushed it open he saw that his home had been ransacked and vandalized. He took several steps back in revulsion and he bumped into a large bulky man who grabbed him and held him so tightly that Naruto couldn't catch his breath and eventually passed out.

xxXxxXxx

As Naruto regained consciousness he noticed that he had been tied to a tree a short distance outside of the village. The small clearing was lit by the dim, flickering light of torches. He heard numerous people shouting but he was still too out of it to make out any faces in the crowd or make out any full sentences but what he did hear he didn't like. He heard shouts like "lets just gut the bastard" or "cut his head off" and the most vivid scared even Naruto. But a loud man screamed to the crowd, " We will not kill him but we will have revenge on both this bakemono and the Kyuubi that resides within him. They are pinned to this tree and here they shall die. Twice have they have been responsible for the destruction of Konoha and now we shall have retribution. We wash our hands from our crime and shall let this divine rain wash away the boy's blood." Naruto tried to struggle but then he noticed that he was pinned to the tree with blades driven through his body so that he would bleed out. The loud man finished his preaching with a simple instruction, " Now go home my friends and never speak a word of what occurred hear tonight." Naruto then passed out due to the blood loss that he suffered from the blades.

xxXxxXxx

Naruto awoke still groggy from his ordeal and blood loss when he realized he was still pinned to the tree. He struggled as hard he could but all he managed to do was restart the blood flow. It was then that he noticed two men standing in front of him just watching him. He thought about asking them for help but he found that he couldn't even speak. He managed to clear his vision though which was an accomplishment in itself. Through his now clear vision he saw the two men in a clearer light. The two wore large high collared black cloaks with red clouds at the bottom. One's head was contained in a plant like outer covering while the other's face was covered by a mask with a small hole on the right side of his face for his eye. They were Akatsuki.

"He appears to have awoken," said the plant like being to his partner.

"So it seems Zetsu, so it seems." The man in the mask said.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tobi and this is Zetsu," the man said obviously directing it to Naruto. "It seems that you could use our help."

Naruto looked up and managed to spit out "You're Akatsuki why would you help me, you've hunted me down for years." Naruto was gasping for air at this point.

Tobi began to speak again, "Well, Akatsuki has been strapped for members since you and the other Konaha-nin managed to kill all but me and Zetsu over there. So I'm going to offer you a position in the new Akatsuki, we could use powerful shinobi such as you."

"I... would... never... betray... my... village... and join you." Naruto gasped.

Tobi began this time sounding more smug than before, "You don't need to betray your village they betrayed you first. You would've given your life to protect them and look where you are now, dying pinned to a tree. And not only did they go after you but they killed all those close to you. Kakashi Hatake, Iruka Umino, and everyone else you ever cared about; they are all dead." Naruto just stared at him in disbelief. "I know that you're in pain both physically and mentally right now. I can make that all go away, if you just join me. You can make them pay for what they did to you."

Naruto was shocked at this revelation. _No, they can't be dead, they just can't be. Maybe I should go with him, Maybe... maybe._ "I'll join you." he said quietly and then he passed out.

But what Naruto couldn't see was Tobi's sharingan spinning rapidly.

xxXxxXxx

Slowly the two Akatsuki members pulled out each blade one by one until Naruto flopped off of the tree and onto the ground. Zetsu broke the silence by asking, "So how long do you think the hypnosis will hold him in our ranks?"

"It doesn't need to we just need it to hold long enough to breed a hatred strong enough in the boy that he will hate Konoha on his own. That should take us 7 years and by then we should have the new Akatsuki ready ro annihilate any who appose us."

As the two turned away with their 18 year old charge a lightning bolt struck the very tree that Naruto was bonded to. The three figures vanished while the tree was burned into oblivion.

xxXxxXxx

fast forward: 7 years later

Two mysterious men appear in the trees surrounding Konoha. They are wearing high collared black cloaks with red clouds at the bottom and wide-brimmed hats that hide their faces at a glance. One was a short stout man who looked like he preferred to crouch rather than stand and the other was a more average height and somewhat on the thin side.

The short stout man began speaking to his companion, "Well senpai we have arrived."

The taller one looked at his companion and with a sadistic grin said, "Yes, Yes we have."

* * *

**Glossary**

**Godaime: refers to the fifth generation or in this case the Fifth Hokage (Tsunade)**

**bakemono: monster**

**Kyuubi: nine tails **

**senpai: senior**

**Final Note: **Well I hoped you liked it. Sorry about the length but I wanted to get the backstory out of the way so that with the next chapter I could get into the meat of the story. My original plan was to leave out the final Zetsu and Tobi (a.k.a. Madara Uchiha) conversation but as I read it I thought that I hadn't made clear that Tobi was messing with Naruto's mind. And again Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2 Of Memorials and Appearances

**Author's note** Well I don't really have much to say other than this is where things start to get interesting I will try to update this story once a week with a backup chapter in reserve in case I don't get to write one over the course of the week. I hope that you like the story and can handle some more of the past. But at least this time we get into some of the more interesting parts of it.

* * *

**The Akatsuki's Revenge  
**

Chapter 2 – Of Memorials and Appearances

It was shortly after dawn, when Tsunade began her walk to the outskirts of the village. She traced in her mind the same path that she had taken every morning since she had learned of the incident 7 years ago. She didn't learn about until two weeks after the mob attacked Naruto. She ran through the events of that night in her mind.

7 years ago:

She had taken to her favorite sake house in the village and just as she was about to have her first drink she heard a man raving and screaming.

"I wash one of the onesh who protected... from that damn Kyuubi bashtard." The man drunkenly explained to his friends probably louder than he would've done if he was sober. Tsunade became interested at the mention of the Kyuubi. " He'sh probably dead by now... hahahahaha."

After hearing this she lept from her seat stormed over to the man and asked, "What did you just say about the Kyuubi's jinchūriki?"

"I ain't gotta tell you anything... bitch."

At that Tsunade began to "interrogate" the man until he was bleeding out of every body opening on his head and she had learned that a mob had formed two weeks ago to kill him. She received a list of names and where the tree they had pinned Naruto to was located after more "interrogation." She immediately ordered two squads of ANBU out. One after the leaders of the mob and the other to go find Naruto's body.

Within minutes of her returning to her office the leader of the mob was on the floor begging for leniency but when she read to him the statements of some of the other participants he baegan to rave about how he had saved the village from a demon. She had the man put in prison for inciting a mob and for murder.

It took several hours for the ANBU sent out to find the body to return.

"Godaime-Hokage," said the leader as he appeared in her office, "I am afraid to report that the tree that was supposedly where Uzumaki Naruto had been pinned has been burnt down. Apparently due to a lightning strike. No remains could be found except for small traces of metal blades that are consistent with the story of him being pinned to thee tree and being allowed to bleed to death."

"Very well then." Tsunade was holding back her emotions at this point. She turned to her new aid and told her to begin funeral preparations. As soon as her office was cleared of all the people she began to sob.

It took her several years but she did finally get a memorial placed at the spot where Naruto is believed to have died. And ever since its dedication she have come out to pay her respects at least once every day.

Present

As Tsunade approached the memorial, she noticed there was someone else standing there. It was a tall man with long, dark blonde hair slicked back to a point and then left unkempt at the back of his head. She had never seen him here before. The man had not seemed to notice her approaching until she was almost upon him. When she did finally get close enough to distinguish more features of the man's face she could sense an almost familiar air about him. He finally turned his head to glance at her through his deep, emotionless cerulean eyes. A scar ran diagonally across his face. As he revealed his whole face to her three deep whisker marks could be seen on either side of this man's visage. Tsunade immediately knew who it was was but knew that it couldn't be him.

"N-naru-naruto!" she stammered but as the name left her lips he disappeared. Tsunade was in shock. _Could that mean that he is still … still alive. _She must have sat there for three hours just waiting for him to return but he never did.

The only thing that roused her from her vigil was a rustling of the brush nearby. She threw a hopeful glance in the direction of the noise hoping that maybe it was him but instead she came face-to-face with Hatake Kakashi.

"What's up?" he asked Tsunade, who looked a little crushed.

"I thought you were someone else, that's all."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I just thought I would come to his memorial today since Sasuke wants to meet me at the KIA memorial so I would be on time and do like to see him aggravated. It reminds me of the days before he left."

Kakashi had taken to training with Sasuke after he had agreed to stay in the village. Getting Sasuke to stay in the village was a hard sell at first. But once he had learned about Naruto's demise he gradually warmed up to the idea of staying but it still took him a year or two to pledge his loyalty to Konoha again. And ever since, he and Kakashi had started training and now it was more of an all out fight to the death rather than a training bout. Both were supposed to be leading genin teams but they both used the bell test which managed to put 5 teams back into the academy.

"I think he's still alive, Kakashi." Tsunade finally managed to blurt out after several silent minutes.

"I'm all for optimism but I think that is keeping your hopes up too high, I mean you were the first to know that Naruto died."

"Yes. But a body never was recovered."

"That's because the tree and almost everything on it was incinerated, I thought."

"Of course. heh. You're right. I guess I was just keeping my hopes up too high that's all." She couldn't get herself to believe this even though it had to be true.

"Well I'd best not keep him waiting much longer or he might try to put me into the hospital again," Kakashi said as he pulled out a little green book. "It's just not the same as the books that Jiraiya and Naruto wrote." he sighed before using the shunshin no jutsu to disappear.

Tsunade stayed where she was for a few more minutes before finally getting up and walking slowly back into the village and her responsibilities as the Hokage.

xxXxxXxx

A man in Akatsuki garb watched his former Hokage leave the memorial site. A second squatter man appeared next to him and said, "Shouldn't we kill her now Uzuma-"

"Don't ever call me that name, Chozouru!" the other man snapped, and with a wicked grin he stated simply, "We will take her out in time."

"Yes senpai. I apologize."

"I never thought it would be that eerie to be looking at one's own grave." The tall one snickered.

And with that both men raced off towards the village to set their sinister plans into motion.

* * *

**Final Note** Well now you know some of the current locations and doings of some of the other characters as well as the names of the two Akatsuki members unless you're just that dense. Well from here I shall begin to work on chapter three and hopefully It will be done by the time I post this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3 Infiltration

**Author's Note** I think I've finally hit my stride with my writings as it is getting easier to churn out these chapters and have them be somewhat good.

**The Akatsuki's Revenge  
**

Chapter 3 – Infiltration

It was just past midnight and the time slowly began to creep by. The entirety of Konoha was asleep except for a handful of shinobi set a guard stations at strategic points on the village's outer wall. Two of these were assigned at the north gate. "Another uneventful night of guard duty. Who the hell is really gonna try to enter the village at this time anyway." said one of the two. He was leaning back in his chair with a cigarette in his mouth.

"It's not about people entering the village you moron. It's about being the first to respond in case of an attack." his companion lectured.

"Yeah, but seriously when have we ever been attacked this late at night."

"Just shut up and stay alert."

Several tense moments passed before the cigarette man spoke. "So. Did you know my kid is graduating from the academy next time around?"

"Really. You should really hope that she doesn't get either of those two arrogant bastards Hatake and Uchiha. They both sent my kid back to the academy because of some damn bell test."

"Ya, but I think that she could use a little rejection ya' know. I mean she's used to getting everything she wants without much effort. And I just think that ..." before he could finish he slumped over in his chair.

"You think that what. Well come on don't keep me in suspense. Hey, are you ...?" The other man dropped dead where he stood.

A pool of blood that should have been formed from the kunai buried in each of their chests did not form on the ground. Within seconds two men in appeared over their corpses. "You got sloppy . The other guard almost alerted the rest of the shinobi on patrol and then we may have never gotten in." Said the taller one.

"Relax senpai. I managed to kill him before he noticed and plus my blood jutsu stopped the blood from pooling allowing us to hide the bodies and give us more time." Chozouro said in a prideful tone.

"Don't get cocky. They were only two chunin guards and once we get near our target we'll have to fight through jonin and ANBU. This isn't going to be a walk in the park."

"We should probably hide the bodies now."

"No." he said in a stale yet calming voice, "leave them as a message and as a way to incite some chaos that we may need to use to cover our entry."

"But if we do that doesn't that mean they'll know we're here senpai."

"Yes and that's the whole point. They'll spend resources looking for us in places where we won't be."

With a look of understanding of the method to this madness both sprinted into the village where if by chance they could incite a little more chaos than just a couple of dead bodies to cover their tracks they most definitely would. When the duo reached the center of the village they split in order to reduce their chances of being sighted and agreed to meet at the target's location 3 hours after sunrise and until then they would plant the seeds of calamity (bombs, bodies, and the like) to cover their tracks.

xxXxxXxx

Naruto made his way through the streets that he had known like the back of his hand during his childhood. _Hard to believe that it's been 7 years since I was last here. I wonder if my old shithole of an apartment is still around? _The wind kicked up his Akatsuki cloak and the cool morning air stung the scar that crossed his face.

He let himself drink in the view from his current vantage point before starting to move again. The luminous moon in the sky lit his view of his former home and he felt it did a better job than the lights that lined the now empty streets. _Hard to believe so many bastards can call such a peaceful sight home. Well, it doesn't matter. Soon enough that all will change. _He caught himself chuckling slightly at the thought of getting revenge. It was then that he decided he should get moving and see if his old apartment was unoccupied.

Suprisingly as he arrived, he found the spare key right where he always did. _Hah! Nobody found it after all these years. _With a small click he turned the door knob and found that no one was currently in this tiny hole that he once called home. In fact everything seemed to be exactly the way he remembered it. From the position of the bed to the unusually large stock of ramen in the cabinets. _ I can't believe I ate this as often as I did. Oh well, someone obviously went through the trouble of keeping this place the same they probably won't mind if I take just one cup._

He went over to a small microwave and repeated the motions and button presses he had committed to memory when he was younger. While he waited for the ramen to finish he began to ponder who would keep his apartment so neat and well stocked. _It could be the old hag but then again she thought I was torched in that fire. Maybe Haruno; that bitch never did understand that I was hitting on her all those years maybe when I "died" she had a realization._ Before he could finish his thoughts a buzzer went off signaling that his meal was complete.

Naruto sat at the small table with his cup of ramen and ate it in silence as he had grown accustomed to after he had joined Akatsuki. He carefully stood up when he was finished and through his garbage away. He made his way to his old bed and plopped down onto it. Rarely had he had a decent meal followed by warm bed to sleep on anymore. Before he knew it he was out cold on the soft matress.

xxXxxXxx

He awoke three hours later. _Shit, I didn't mean to fall asleep. _Upon looking at a clock he realized he still had plenty of time until he had to set his mission into motion. As he mulled over his mission in his head he didn't notice a figure slip in through the window behind him.

Naruto mouthed the ultimatum given to him and Chozouro, "Kill the Hokage." It was a simple yet powerful mission. Killing her would throw the village into chaos as well as create a power vacuum that could very well start a civil war and bring down Konohagakure. He didn't care. At least he thought he didn't care but there was that nagging in the back of his head that told him that this was wrong and that he shouldn't do it.

xxXxxXxx

Sasuke had returned late to his apartment only to find that the door was ajar and a mysterious man was standing in its center. The apartment used to belong to his best friend/rival Uzumaki Naruto. He himself had never gotten over the fact that Naruto died in such a demeaning and horrible way. He supposed it was this trauma that caused him to take the apartment and leave all the furnishings and decor the same way it was. He had even found himself enjoying a cup of ramen after a late mission or after a late night of drinking. But tonight here was something he hadn't expected to see. An Akatsuki member hiding in his home.

Sasuke thought that maybe if he stayed still enough and masked his chakra signature he could determine why the man was here, not specifically in his apartment but at least the village. But after ten or twenty minutes he decided maybe a confrontation could help him more than stealth. As he began to drop his guard and move in for the confrontation. The man said, "Well I'd best get moving. Oh and by the way ,Uchiha, your ramen was stale."

He charged at the man and just as he would have made contact the man had disappeared. "Damn it. Who the hell was that?" he muttered to himself. " I should probably go warn the Godaime-Hokage."

xxXxxXxx

Naruto and Chozouro met shortly before there attack was set to begin. Chozouro had obviously been busy as explosions and shattered remains of buildings could be seen scattered throughout his half of the village. Flurries of ANBU squads and jonin were seen leaving the Hokage's office. Finally the time to strike had come. With a final nod to each other both used the shunshin no jutsu to appear just out side the Gondaime's office and were immediately swarmed with her elite guards. The duo beat back wave after wave of shinobi until they managed to get through the door. Once inside Naruto rushed Tsunade and managed to push her out of the window and onto a small portion of roof.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"I'm the one who's going to kill you." Naruto responded in his gruff and emotionless voice.

xxXxxXxx

And so the battle erupts over Konoha.


	4. Chapter 4 The Battle Over Konoha

**Author's Note** Well if you're reading this you know that the name of the Story is** The Akatsuki's Revenge** and I haven't really brought in any other Akatsuki members. Well fear no more. In the next several chapters the 6 other new Akatsuki members will be brought into this story. If you have any ideas for names, personalities, and abilities of new akatsuki members in your reviews. Remember not to make them to overpowered (1 reason I won't be giving Naruto sage mode(at least not yet)) as they will be fighting normal shinobi.

* * *

**The Akatsuki's Revenge  
**

Chapter 4 – The Battle Over Konoha

His deep cerulean eyes stared into her hazel eyes from across their makeshift battle arena. The Akasuki man had begun his fight to kill the Gondaime-Hokage. Blow after blow landed on his target but she never seemed to let the hits debilitate her despite their severity and she always managed to counter-attack within a split second of him landing his shot. He knew that if he didn't end this quickly more shinobi would show up and make this even more difficult.

"Why the hell won't you just die, you old hag!" He yelled.

"Because I was chosen to protect this village. And no thug like you is going to change that."

As he began to move in for another charge three shapes appeared alongside their battle. One of them was a silver haired shinobi in standard Jonin attire with his hitai-ate draped over one eye, Another was a lazy looking jonin with his black hair tied back into a short pony tail, and the last was a pink haired chunin that had a look of distress on her face as she watched the battle. "Damn, I thought that more wouldn't show up this quick." He muttered under his breath. "Chozouro get over here and get some of the heat of my back."

xxXxxXxx

Chozouro had never been known as the most athletic shinobi ever but that was due in part mainly due to his posture. He never stood straight, in fact he was almost constantly crouched. Instead of using this as a handicap he made it into part of his offense. His opponents misjudged him and believed him to be short and stout when in reality he was quite thin and very sinuously muscled. Today was a day when that ability shined. He leapt from target to target most of the time killing them in one shot to their jugular with his special kunai that created a vacuum and literally pulled the blood out of them into vials attached to the blades' handles.

But as he lunged at the three targets they actually dodged him. That was no problem with a few quick hand seals he had begun to radiate a blood tinged aura. He poured two of his many vials into a pair of straight tattoos leading into circles in his palms, and without missing a beat he said aloud "Chishio: Sakura shuriken". As he held out his palms the blood on the tattoos flaked away and began circling his three opponents.

"Sakura-chan, Shikamaru-san watch out for those shuriken." yelled Kakashi as the tiny blades of the glinting blood made its way ever closer towards cutting him. At the last second Kakashi used a substitution and a log was the only thing that was diced into tiny pieces by the jutsu. Sakura and Shikamaru quickly followed suit and appeared right next to Kakashi. "Are you both all right!"

"Ya we'll be fine." Shikamaru responded.

"Good, remember that this guy is an Akatsuki member so don't expect an easy fight."

"You don't know what you're up against fools." Chozouro mockingly saying as he removed two more vials from a pouch on his waist. He began to pour them onto the twin tattoos until the vials were empty. "Now it's time to have some fun."

"Shikamaru now!" Kakashi yelled as he closed the distance between him and the enemy. Shikamarus's shadow flew out from under him right under the Akatsuki member ensnaring him in a Kage Shibari no Jutsu.

"What the hell! What's going on here." Chozouro uttered before his eyes widened in suprise. "Damn it, This has to be your damn shadow jutsu." Surprise turned to horror as he saw lightning forming in the palm of the silver haired ninja in front of him.

"Raikiri."

With a small lunge Kakashi was right in Chozouro's face and his hand resting on his chest. He removed his hand gently, almost cautiously. Copious amounts of blood fell from the body he had just impaled on a blade of pure lightning. He was as good as dead Kakashi thought as he turned and began to look on the other bout on the roof.

Chozouro burst into laughter.

Kakashi wheeled around only to see the face of a man possessed inches from his own and before he knew it he was sailing through the air. "Ha, you can't kill me. Though I must admit I am disappointed that you ruined my cloak and broke all my blood vials. Oh well, I have other methods of obtaining blood for my jutsu." As Chozouro his emaciated form became evident as well as his long limbs. With a slight smirk he revealed two strings hidden on his chest. Kakashi looked on in horror as he yanked both cords. Hundreds of kunai knives shot from his body and the blood from the openings in his body began to pour down even more tattoos criss-crossing his entire body.

"These tattoos are more than just decoration if you haven't figured it out by now. They act as chakra conduits on my body allowing me to more easily access my reserves. It allows me to control blood that I place on the surface due to the blood's latent chakra. And the fresher the blood, the more powerful the jutsu I can perform." Chozouro gloated. With a few quick hand seals a deep red surrounded his emaciated form. "Now lets get this started for real. Shall we."

xxXxxXxx

They were evenly matched.

No matter what Naruto did, this fight was nothing more than trading equal blows. There was a counter attack for every attack. He knew that with each shot the longer fight drug on, And the longer it was sustained the more shinobi would show up. "That's it! I'm done playing with you." he exclaimed.

Holding out his palm an intense chakra began to become visible and began to rotate. Swirling and churning in choreographed chaos contained in an invisible chakra sphere. "Time to end this! Rasengan!" He lunged holding the swirling mass in front of him praying that it would make contact with and kill the old woman that stood exhausted in front of him. Opening his eyes he saw not the body of the Hokage in front of him but that of a brunet blocking his jutsu with a massive hilt-less sword. The eyes that looked back into his were none other than those of an Uchiha. The Sharingan.

With a shifting movement Sasuke was able to redirect the swirling mass of chakra into the ground and simultaneously wheeling his foot around clocking Naruto in the head causing the wide brimmed hat that had masked his identity to fall to the ground. Sasuke, Tsunade, and the others on the roof stared in disbelief at the blonde. The three whisker marks on either side of his visage as well as a long diagonal scar deepened as a sadistic smile began to spread across his lips.

"So I see the Hokage has a new lapdog. I never thought it would be you." Naruto said, obviously directing the insult at the Uchiha.

"I thought that... that you were… dead."

"Well I guess I'm not."

"Why are you doing this?" Uchiha asked concern wavered behind his voice.

"I'm just doing it for fun." Naruto burst out laughing. His emotionless pits that used to be his eyes focused in on the Uchiha. He was afraid of what Naruto had become. "I want to watch Konoha burn to the ground."

Sasuke flinched at these words. _ He can't relly mean that. Can he? I gotta stop him but... I don't know if I can bring myself to kill him?_ While he was lost in thought he didn't notice Naruto getting closer with a kunai in his hand.

"I hope you're life has been nice because it's about to end."

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted shoving his kusanagi sword into Naruto's chest. Hot tears filled his eyes. "I'm sorry." he muttered.

"For what?" said a voice behind him. He wheeled around and saw Naruto standing but five feet away and on his blade was just a shadow clone. _ Substitution, He's gotten better at that alright. _Dropping his sword began to prepare his own powerful jutsu

"Chidori!" was all Sasuke said in reply.

xxXxxXxx

Blood trickled down from the cuts on his face as Kakashi stared down his oppenent. The longer he dragged the stronger it seemed his opponents was; even with all those holes in his body. He had enough chakra for one more attack and if that didn't work he knew he wouldn't win. His Mangekyo Sharingan had pushed his body to the brink.

Chozouro knew he had to finish this fast. He was already light headed and was beginning to lose his vision due to blood loss. He could only get in one more powerful strike if he wanted to have enough chakra left to mend his wounds and stop the blood loss. "This is it." a series of handseals flew in front of him and all the tattoos glowed a deep, brilliant crimson.

Mustering all the strength he had left Kakashi prepared another raikiri.

Both charged at each other. As two jutsus met in battle, enormous amounts of power were expelled from the epicenter. Finally a large explosion erupted from both combatants.

When the smoke cleared both stood staring at each other, knowing that the first to buckle would lose. Chozouro hit the ground still barely conscious despite the amount of blood he had lost.

xxXxxXxx

The explosion rocked the entire battlefield. Naruto and Sasuke simply stopped to see who emerged as victor. As the smoke that obscured their vision cleared Naruto saw that Chozouro was defeated.

"Damn him. He got in over his head." Naruto muttered. Turning to Sasuke he said. "We'll have to finish our little fight later." In a split second he appeared right next to his partner. "And as for you. I don't think that you belong with Akatsuki anymore." Emotionless pits that had been eyes stared down at the limp body still gasping for breath.

Leaning down Naruto picked up Chozouro's hand that bore his Akatsuki signet. With a swift strike from his kunai the arm fell limply back to earth as Naruto removed the ring from the severed hand. "Well I'll be back to exact my revenge on this little shithole of a village and don't you all forget that."

Naruto made a break for the outside. Unfortunately Sasuke was in hot pursuit. They made it into the forest surrounding the village. And they went for seemingly miles until they reached a valley. The Valley of End. "Well I guess I should try to get you off my trail here." Naruto had stopped and said.

"I'm going to bring you back Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

"Well doesn't that sound familiar. But unfortunately you can't back that tough talk up. Let's finish this."

* * *

**Final Note** Well here we are folks the Sasuke retrieval fight redux. I'm even excited about the next chapter so I hope you like. And I apologize for killing of Chozouro in such a bitch way but I didn't feel his character going anywhere. OK I'm going to be needing 6 more akatsuki members to fill out the 10. Feel free to suggest names, personalities, abilities and villages in reviews. If I like what I see I may use your ideas in some of the future chapters in the second half of the story.

**Glossary**

hitai-ate --- forehead protector

Chishio: Sakura shuriken --- Blood style: cherry blossom shuriken

Kage Shibari no Jutsu --- Shadow Possession Jutsu

Raikiri --- Lightning Blade


	5. Chapter 5 Naruto Retrieval

**Author's Note** Small chapter this one is. Sorry if you feel cheated on the fight but the more I tried to develop it the worse it had sounded. The akatsuki design contest is still on so get your ideas into the reviews. I would also like to thank **Everything but Nothing **for being the first to post an idea for an akatsuki member in the reviews.

* * *

**The Akatsuki's Revenge**

Chapter 5 – Naruto Retrieval

"I'm going to bring you back, Naruto."

"Hn, don't those words sound oh so familiar."

"That's because you said them to me. Right here at the Valley of End almost a decade ago."

"Funny how things can go full circle."

"Why did you leave in the first place?"

"People tried to kill me. Now how about we shut up and finish our little squabble." He charged at Sasuke with the intent to kill shining in his eyes.

Sasuke managed to dodge several quick strikes and followed through with his own. Naruto brought up his right arm to block but Sasuke was to quick and he managed to land a crushing blow to Naruto's chest. The blow sent him flying across the surface of the water until he made contact with one of the valley's walls.

As he regained his composure Naruto barely managed to dodge another strong strike from Sasuke. Rock shattered from the point where the punch had landed leaving behind a crater the size of a human skull. Before he could wheel around to face his opponent a shin flew into his gut and he went soaring through the air righting himself just before he landed. But the barrage didn't let up. He barely got his guard as three strong blows made contact. They easily would have shattered his arms had he not gotten his chakra focused enough to soften the impacts.

"Hn, it seems your fighting abilities have improved." Naruto scoffed, his voice hiding a small amount of pain, "But it doesn't matter you can't beat me."

"I will always be better than you especially now that you've gone back on your nindo." Sasuke replied, his voice a little shaken as reminder of his nindo, seemed to put Naruto into a state of shock. An opportunity Sasuke didn't hesitate to take an advantage of. He rushed in landing a punch in Naruto's scarred visage. "You shouldn't have let yourself get distracted."

Gaining his composure, Naruto righted himself in midair and, giving himself just enough time to change the direction of his momentum to get behind Sasuke. "Idiot, you're suddenly a believer in my nindo. Well you saw where that idiotic view of how the world works got me. Pinned to a tree and left for dead." He said as he prepared to stab Sasuke with a kunai. But as the blade should've been driving into flesh all that it hit was a tree trunk. "Damn, a substitution."

As he turned he saw Sasuke preparing to launch at him with lightning glinting from his hand. Naruto prepared a trick of his own to avoid the attack. "Kage bunshin no jutsu," and with that an entire army of Narutos just laughed as Sasuke tried to find the real one.

Using his Sharingan made it easier but because of the chakra flowing into his hand he couldn't focus. When he did manage to target Naruto he saw that a large Shuriken of wind chakra rotated in his hand eminating outward from a rasengan in its center. With a cloud of smoke every clone disappeared leaving just the two on the battlefield.

"So the rasenshuriken. What are you afraid that the rasengan isn't enough Naruto?" Sasuke taunted focusing more chakra into his left palm in creasing the size and power of his jutsu. _Time to try the raikiri that Kakashi taught me._

"Hn, you idiot I don't just want to kill you. I want to obliterate you and the past that you stand for." Naruto responded, emotion unsuccessfully hidden under his voice, throwing the projectile towards the brunet staring at him.

Sasuke was shaken by the response his goading had drawn forth but leaped from the ground to dodge the projectile and charge forward. "Raikiri."

Naruto managed to dodge this jutsu in a similar manner to the way Sasuke had dodged his. The foes were evenly matched. Neither could get an advantage over the other despite the numerous blows they traded.

"I know you can't keep this up forever, Uchiha." Naruto panted.

"Neither can you."

_Damn he's right I can already feel the bleeding starting I have to finish this quick. _ He held out his hand to try and form a rasengan but all he managed to do was get a small amount of rotation. _ Dammit I'm out of chakra and the Kyuubi's not going to help me. I have to... I mean I need to... _Naruto's thoughts were clouding and starting to scatter through his mind. He couldn't think straight let alone react to Sasuke's strike with his Kusanagi sword. The blade rended his flesh and large amounts of blood began to spill out of the wound.

Getting up enough of his strength to stand, Naruto attempted to rush Sasuke with all he had left but half way to his target he fell to the ground coughing and hacking up blood. The blood gushed from his mouth with each cough.

Sasuke knew that he hadn't cut him deep enough to cause this much damage. As he inched nearer to the hacking mass of flesh a plant like man appeared out of the ground in between him and his objective. The strange thing grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled of a ring. He managed to pull a ring out of Naruto's pocket before disappearing into the ground.

Sasuke was now even more concerned recalling the brutality at which Chozouro's ring had been removed. Sasuke ran to Naruto's side and all he could see was a blank expression on his face. Worried, he shouldered the burden of the hacking body of his former friend and began to trek to the village.

xxXxxXxx

"So he has lost and been captured."

"Yes. It would seem that we should have killed him when we had the chance."

"No; he did his job Zetsu. He has thrown Konoha into a panic and weakened their defenses. Granted the hokage dead would have been a great triumph he did what I had always wanted him to do. Besides It shouldn't be long til that hypnosis I have him under breaks. Then we'll see whose side hes really on." The man who had taken over the Akatsuki smirked behind his orange mask. "Prepare the rest of the group to mobilize we are going to pay Konohagakure a little visit."

* * *

**Final Note** Yeah this chapter was short but it did contain some important pieces of information that will come into play later in the story. The fight wasn't as epic as I'd hoped but oh well I may rewrite it later if I feel like it. Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6 Repercussions

**Author's note** Well I know my last chapter was short so I'm going to do a double chapter post. That's right I was a little ahead of schedule with my writings so I decided to post 2 chapters today. So if you haven't read chapter 5 go back and do so. Another passing note Chapter 8 will begin the reveal of the new Akatsuki members so get your submissions into the reviews and if you're worried I won't pick yours I have another story brewing that I might be able to work it into.

* * *

**The Akatsuki's Revenge  
**

Chapter 6 - Repercussions

It had been three days since Sasuke's victory at the Valley of End and his retrieval of the blonde now passed out in front of him on a hospital bed. He couldn't believe that even in his sleep Naruto looked tense and ready to defend himself from an attack from any angle. He was definitely not the goofy moron that he had known when they were both genin. Back then he would jump head long into a fight without planning a single move almost the opposite of the way he had fought in the valley.

There was also this mystery illness that had caused Naruto to cough blood since his defeat. He was told that Naruto's internal organs were completely messed up. Something about the Kyuubi's chakra only connecting nearby tissue and not combining similar tissue. This lead to blood vessels emptying directly into his stomach and lungs. Apparently these injuries were suffered 7 years ago when he was pinned to the tree and whatever was used tore up his innards. It seemed that the only thing keeping him alive was the minimal amount of medical jutsu that Naruto had known that allowed him to close up the affected blood vessels and stop the bleeding. But now Naruto was going to have a risky procedure done that should allow his organs to be restored to their normal state.

Sasuke had used the excuse that he was guarding the exit in case the prisoner tried to escape in order to remain in the room for as long as he had. He sat on a wooden chair in the corner trying to figure out why Naruto would leave. After all he risked his own life to save him but after a single traumatizing night he leaves the village and swears to kill everyone in it. No, that wasn't Naruto. He would never do that. Would he?

He sat pondering for hours in the dreary silence. Not even one visitor came through that door for over 6 hours. When the door did finally open it was none other than the Gondaime- Hokage. "So When is the procedure?"

"Soon."

"Do you think he'll make it through."

"No idea. But its less risky than the procedure I used to fix Lee. So he should."

"But when is it?"

"Tomorrow." she responded, "You should probably leave We'll get someone else to guard him overnight."

"I'm fine." he scoffed slightly at the suggestion but a rush of weariness took hold.

"No, you aren't. You need rest and if you're trying to answer your own questions you might as well wait until he's awake and ask him yourself."

Sasuke took the hint and slowly got up and walked out the door. The light of the last remaining rays of sun was blinding at first but slowly his eyes adjusted to the light. Walking slowly down the road Sasuke pondered the question's he had in his head. Not able to come up with any answers Sasuke went into his favorite sake house. _Just one drink to loosen up my brain and get the blood flowing. _He thought. 12 drinks later Sasuke stumbled out into the night and slowly, shakily made his way home.

xxXxxXxx

"Good Morning Sasuke-san." said Kakashi in his normally overly cheerful monotone. "You were out frinking again weren't you?"

A little embarrassed Sasuke answered in a low mumble, "Yeah so what its not like I'm a kid any more."

Sighing Kakashi responded, "I know but you did just get released from the hospital. Maybe you should take it easy. I mean you've been passed out for 2 days on your floor again."

"What! Again. Wait... that means that Naruto had that procedure done. Was it successful? Is he awake yet?"

"Yes the procedure was successful and yes he's awake, but he's not exactly thrilled to be back. He's already threatened me with death."

"You don't think he means it, do you?"

"No" Kakashi responded, "But his words seemed to have less hate in them than the last time."

"Well then I guess I should probably go and pay him a visit."

"I wouldn't."

"Why?"

"He still hasn't recovered and I think he might still have some animosity for you."

"Well I guess I could get something to eat first and shower."

"That sounds good. But you might want to be ready for some hurtful words."

"What could that idiot say to affect me?"

"No idea." Kakashi said and in flash he was gone.

xxXxxXxx

He had been laying in a hospital bed for what he could only assume had been days. He had counted the ceiling tiles and had tried to figure out why his body was wracked with an intense pain. Several people came and left. He spoke to none of them except for Kakashi. He only said spiteful words but even then they sounded hollow and devoid of the emotion he meant to instill in the words.

Questions buzzed and nagged at his brain. _Why did I leave in the first place? I thought I was happy hear all those years ago. _And as he was on the verge of an answer another voice would tell him that he was wrong. _Could I have been tricked into leaving? _

"_No you weren't remember this village is evil and wants nothing more than you dead."_

_But I don't see why I left? I mean they've treated me like crap before._

"_Yes but they never tried to kill you before have they."_

_I suppose that's true._

As Naruto held his imaginary conversation in his head he didn't realize that someone had entered.

The Hokage watched the blonde as he remained deep in thought. She stood there for 20 minutes before interrupting. "Hey its time you answered some of our questions."

Naruto stared at her with the deep blue eyes. "Who else is there." And just as he said that Sasuke appeared from behind the door. "Oh, okay well who knows maybe you both can help me straighten out my own thoughts."

"Good, now maybe we can get some answers to why you left."

* * *

**Final Note** Again Chapter 8 marks the appearance of the New Akatsuki and the second act of the story so you have until I post Chapter 7 to come up with and post your ideas. I'm keeping a log of all the ideas that are posted so you will not be forgotten. There is going to be a delay between chapter 7 and 8 as I write 8 to accommodate the new members.


	7. Chapter 7 Answers and Realizations

**Author's Note** It's over the first act of this story is over. Well if you've read my profile than you know that I'm taking a hiatus from TNA to build up some background into the new members So it doesn't feel like I'm making it up as I go along. Don't worry though the story is not dead just on hold to build suspense. So keep an eye out for the companion to this, "Tales of the New Akatsuki."

* * *

**The Akatsuki's Revenge  
**

Chapter 7 – Answers and Realizations

"Well Naruto you can start off by answering our questions like how you got that scar?" Tsunade opened up the impromptu forum between her the blonde and the Uchiha in the hospital room.

"A botched assassination in Sunagakure. Easy enough; kill a noble and get out. Unfortunately I was caught after being slashed across the face by a guard. My former partner left me to die. I killed all of the guards trying to tie me up and when I found that slippery bastard; I killed him. That's when I got assigned Chozouro."

"How long ago was that?" Uchiha asked curiously.

"5 years ago. That's when I learned just how pathetic relying on people is."

"Didn't the wound heal from the Kyuubi's chakra?" Tsunade asked, astonished that this man who talked about killing so nonchalantly used to be the brat that would have never taken a life.

"It started to," Naruto paused, "But I forced it back open with a knife. I did that repeatedly until it stopped healing and scarred over. It's my reminder of how useless relying on others is."

Both Tsunade and Sasuke recoiled at the thought of such a self-mutilation and the sheer pain it must have been for him to do that to himself. Allowing themselves enough time to regain their composure the two changed the subject.

"What happened to you and you're morals?" Tsunade asked to herself almost inaudibly under her breath.

"I saw the real world. I couldn't afford to keep living in that fantasy land that you and everyone else who pretended to be my friend tried to convince me was real."

Tsunade reeled in shock, not just because he had heard her but the fact that she could tell he really believed what he was saying. Shooting a look at Sasuke she could see he had almost the same reaction to this revelation.

"What's the matter you look surprised that I say that. Did you not think that an attempted lynching would change my outlook on life. Well I guess I do have to thank them. If it weren't for them I wouldn't have been the first of the New Akatsuki that Madara-sensei gathered to destroy this pathetic excuse of a village."

"Wait do you mean that as in Uchiha Madara?" Sasuke interrupted.

"Yes, the same one who tried to turn you against the village."

Sasuke asked to talk in private with the Hokage and both left the uncomfortable atmosphere that had settled into the room. "It could be a genjutsu." Sasuke said when he was confident him and the Hokage were out of earshot of the room.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what turned Naruto against the village initially may have been a genjutsu similar to the one used to try and convince me that the village leadership under Sarutobi killed my family to turn me against Konoha. If that is the case we may be able to break it and return him to his senses."

"That makes sense but do you really think it could be that simple."

"Its worth a try."

"If it does work you do realize there is still a chance he will harbor enough hatred not to return."

"Ya but its still worth a shot."

Both were hopeful that they may soon have the Naruto they had always known back. But there was a small problem. Even if it was genjutsu that had started Naruto down the path he now walked; it was now the only way he believed he could live. And even if they could release the illusion that enthralled his mind there was no guarantee that he would come back to the village or even go back to his old self.

XxXxxXxx

It seemed like hours they had kept him waiting. Naruto waited on his bed pondering the bit of conversation he had overheard from beyond the door. _Could this really all be just a genjutsu used by Madara... _A screech audible in his own mind prevented him from completing this thought forcing him back to dwell on his hatred for life.

The door slowly opened and from behind it emerged the figures of his two makeshift interrogators. In their eyes Naruto noticed a gleam of what he used to know as hope, a feeling he hadn't let enter his mind since he scarred himself. Tsunade inched closer to him slowly outstretching one of her hands. She reached forward cautiously until her hand rested firmly on his forehead where the leaf symbol emblazoned on his hitai-ate once would have rested.

XxXxxXxx

Tsunade felt the chant rumble in her throat. Any normal genjutsu should've broken upon her making contact with Naruto's skin but this had only seemed to intensify. The chant she had begun to use was only meant to remove extremely powerful genjutsu, and as her chanting got louder so did the intensity at which her chakra pried into the hold that engulfed Naruto's thoughts and being. As she delved deeper dispelling lie after lie that had been planted into the blonde by the renegade Uchiha. No matter what she did it always seemed as if the jutsu had a failsafe that reinforced the rest of the hold that it had.

XxXxxXxx

Sasuke stood dumbfounded at the door as the Godaime's chanting grew to levels just below a scream. He had turned away several curious medic-nin who wanted to know if they could be of assistance. It wasn't until The man in the bed had begun to scream and writhe in pain that he realized just how ingrained the illusions and lies were into his mind and just how much power it was taking to remove them. Finally the screams ceased. Sasuke turned and saw both figures near the state of collapse. He rushed to Tsunade's side as she began to faint. Catching her as her body had started to buckle he looked into the hospital bed and saw 2 blank cerulean eyes staring into the sealing as well as the remains of a smoking hand print on Naruto's forehead.

xxX 2days later Xxx

Sasuke appeared with Sakura in the doorway of a blonde's room. They moved into the room and watched as the two cerulean eyes darted between the pair. "So you finally brought the ungrateful bitch to see me, eh, Sasuke?" The figure in the bed retorted with the scar on his face looking even more twisted and sadistic as ever."Oh well it still won't change my mind about staying here."

As Sasuke opened his mouth to speak Sakura answered Naruto's hurtful goading. She said with emotion boiling behind her voice, "Naruto, I'm just glad you're alive you ungrateful bastard. I thought you were dead for 7 years and that's how you say hello. With an insult and a stab at a motive so convoluted without barely acknowledging that I'm here. What happened to you?"

"To answer your question," Naruto sneered, "I saw the real world. Something you wouldn't understand."

Sasuke stood flabbergasted at his brashness but did nothing to stop Sakura from leaving the room. He left shortly after her not looking at Naruto.

XxXxxXxx

For several days Naruto had to put up with the constant visitors ranging from former friends to ANBU looking for information. With each day Naruto's resolve to never allign himself with this village again wavering. With each visitor he felt a yearning to go back to when he was a genin with his friends and going on missions could be fun. All it would take is one small pledge and then he could return to his home, his friends, and his previous life. Dismissing that thought Naruto went back to his brooding, but the thoughts would never stop nagging at him.

XxX One week later Xxx

Four loud explosion roar through the crisp morning air of Konohagakure. As the smoke settles Alarms begin to sound signaling that the village is under attack.

* * *

**Final Note**Well that is it folks. I'm going to be taking a small hiatus from writing this story so I can work on the companion to this. Hope you liked it. I should pick this story up some time in late June or early July, it all depends on how fast I can crank out the parts of the other story.


	8. Chapter 8 The Day of the Akatsuki

**The Akatsuki's Revenge**

Chapter 8 – The Day of the Akatsuki

Six Men watched as Konoha was thrown into chaos in the wake of several large explosions. "Well there goes the element of surprise." said an elderly man to his younger companions.

"Hey, I'm a firm believer in the old adage that the more explosions one sees the better a day he will have, old man. And I do believe that was five." said a younger one with one arm noticeably larger proportionately than it should have been.

"That is complete bull. And besides that was only four." replied the elder.

"Wait for it. Wait for it." an explosion rang out in front of them. "That makes five."

"Would both of you stop your bickering we have a job to do." said the young man with long blood red hair as he interrupted the two with his sword.

"Yeah, stop bickering you two we have a job to do." Said another figure.

"So its agreed we'll meet back here when our mission is done." said another in a more sadistic tone.

"Right" the others replied in unison.

xxXxxXxx

Naruto watched out of the sole window in his makeshift prison explosions rocked the entirety of the building which he would have slept through if it wasn't for the ceiling tile that had hit him in the face. His recovery was going quick enough. So quick that they had to place seals on his wrists to prevent him from escaping. He knew that it was only by Tsunade good graces that he was still in the hospital and not in some prison cell waiting for execution. Still he couldn't help but wonder what could have caused the building to shake to its very foundation. He didn't have to wait long as a figure in a long cloak lined with red clouds around the lower hem burst through the wall and stared at him.

"Heh, long time no see traitor." he said. The man lunged towards Naruto plunging them both through the door and into the hall. "It's time I finish what should have been done a long time ago!" holding out his right hand the wind began to whip wildly around his palm. Suddenly the wind elongated and became a solid sword with a golden, ornate hilt. He began to lunge at Naruto with the intent to run him through but he never reached the blonde. Appearing between the two, blocking the blade, was the white haired jonin, Kakashi Hatake.

"Friend of yours Naruto?" he asked with his sharingan focused on the blade wielder.

xxXxxXxx

A figure stood on top of the roof of the relatively small building watching as several shinobi passed by. Slowly he began to smirk, "Hn, one of them should make a suitable host." He proceded to form several hand signs in quick succession. His body slowly began to change into a white smoke-like vapor until there was nothing left of the mysterious Akatsuki member. The vapor slowly wormed its way through the air until it came upon the group of shinobi. Singling one out of the group.

"What the ..." was all the unlucky man got to say before the smoke forcefully poured down his throat. He made several grunts and groans as the vapor slowly choked him to death. The others in his group looked on in horror as he not only choked to death but he began to bleed out of every opening on his head. Finally he hit the ground and stopped moving.

"Are you okay?" asked one of the others.

"We need a medic out here!" called another.

The motionless body of their comrade began to twitch in ever more controlled movements. After several more twitches he opened his eyes.

"Hes ali..." the supposed dead mans hand gripped the shinobi's throat crushing his trachea. As he looked out in his final moments he saw the entire team that he had come out with lying dead on the ground with blood pooling around each. He closed his eyes for the last time.

"Hn, this body is not as good as I hoped. Oh well I guess I'll just have to try to find another host." after saying this the white smoke poured out of the shinobi's mouth. It hovered along the ground for a few moments until finally coalescing in to a man in an Akatsuki cloak.

XxXxxXxx

"Don't run, I only want to kill you!" said the man with the over-sized right arm that was now exposed as being made of a black steel with large rods along it that acted as conductors for small bolts of electricity,

"You really think that's going to stop them you idiot." said his older companion.

"Shut up, I'm trying to have a little fun if you don't mind."

"Well then shut y'er trap before I shut it for you."

"I don't want to hit an old man but for you I'll make an exception."

"You know I'm stronger than you could ever hope to be." The two were so embattled in their squabble of insults they didn't notice two shinobi appear across the road from them.

"Do you think we should stop them Shikamaru?" asked the larger of the two to his companion.

"Nah, lets just see if they rip each other's heads off." the other sighed.

Just as those words left Shikamaru's mouth the bickering stopped and both turned their attention to the leaf shinobi. "Heh looks like we get to have fun after all. I'll take the fat one." said the younger one.

"I am not fat!" Choji yelled as he barreled towards the Akatsuki . However, he never quite made it as the akatsuki's over-sized steel hand caught him and repelled him through several buildings in a swath of destruction.

"Heh, have fun fighting that other brat you old goat." He yelled jumping after his prey through the rubble of the buildings.

"Ya by no means should we stick together in case more reinforcements show up after your little display of dominance." The old man yelled sarcastically after his companion. "That jackass never listens." he sighed. "I guess that means I'm fighting you then." he said as he turned towards Shikamaru.

"Ah man why do I always gotta fight people most consider inappropriate to fight? What a drag." he sighed.

xxXxxXxx

The sounds of peace that had once filled the air around him were slowly being replaced by screams of pain and fear and death. Even as he sat alone on the edge of the battle he could only imagine what despicable acts his comrades were committing against the civilians of this village. He meditated trying to clear his mind of thoughts that could distract him should he need to fight.

For minutes nothing around him moved. Slowly a rabbit bounded out of a nearby bush and before it knew what was happening it fell in two pieces on to the ground. The warrior simply sheathed his sword without cleaning the blade praying that that would be the only blood his steel would taste on that day. But as he turned to walk away his hopes were dashed as he felt a presence appear relatively close.

"Go away now before I have to kill you as well."

"I will not allow you or your organization to defile my home intruder." said the new arrival. "I will defeat you with the power of youth." He said as he flew through the air to kick the man who stood before him.

A sudden pressure wave pushed him back as the mysterious swordsman unsheathed his blade and stared at him through grey dead eyes. "If you insist on challenging me then I will end your life."

"I am Rock Lee and I will not lose to you." Lee said straightening into his fighting stance. "Now I request to know the name of the man who wants to kill me."

"I am Akane Legoeuy." the other stoically declared as he brought his sword to bear against Lee.

xxXxxXxx

The man watched as the classes were evacuated to the safe rooms that they always went too during attacks on the village. He waited in the shadows until the final student left the building that is when he made his move. At an amazing pace he managed to grab the kid and make his way back into another dark alley. The child kicked and made futile attempts at screams beyond the cloth that he had placed over her mouth.

"I would stop if I were you." he told the young girl and she did as her eyes met his. Her eyes went cold and almost lifeless as he began to explain to her what he was about to do. "I'm going to inject you with this needle. It contains a poison that will work its way through your blood stream and slowly phase its way into your chakra network. Once in your network it will slowly and painfully break down your chakra coils until you finally die."

The needle broke the skin on her arm as it plunged deep into her flesh. For several minutes nothing happened until slowly her eyes came back from the trance she was in. The girl dropped to the ground and began to go through violent tremors as the poison began to break down her chakra network.

"Ha! it worked." Said the dark figure as he watched a body writhe in pain on the ground. After several moments the body ceased its tremors of pain. "Damn, I hoped she would have survived a little longer just so she could really feel the pain that poison can cause. Oh well, now its time to try it out on some real shinobi and not these academy brats." He slowly walked away from the body and set out in search of a target better suited to his needs.

Unbeknownst to him Iruka had gone out in search of the missing student only to witness the horrible act the Akatsuki member had committed against one of his students. Now he was out for revenge. And he disappeared after the man.

xxXxxXxx

And so the battle with the new Akatsuki has begun.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow its been a while. I guess its a little past the time I gave myself to update this story. But between a virus erasing my hard drive and my friend borrowing my backup thumb drive to save his stupid movies onto and in the process deleting everything I had on there. It's been pretty rough. So I have to rewrite both this and my code geass story from where I left off in June.

Oh well enough about me. I hope that this return to the original story plus the new title I'm giving it resparks interest into this for me and the crowd.

I hope that you all like the match ups I've introduced. I haven't quite figured out who should fight the smoke guy (don't want to give you his name quite yet) because in my last draft the fight didn't turn out quite like I had hoped. So if you have any suggestions as to who should fight him leave it in a review.

Don't forget to R&R.


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